Gas tanker blast in Liberia kills dozens, many injured

At least 40 people have died following the explosion of a gas tanker in north-central Liberia, the West African country's chief medical officer, Francis Kateh has said.

The fuel truck crashed late on Tuesday in Totota, Lower Bong County, and soon after exploded, killing and injuring many who had flocked to the scene.

Dozens of people are still in hospital with serious burns, and the death toll could rise, Kateh told reporters.

Poor road safety and weak infrastructure have made Sub-Saharan Africa the world's deadliest region for crashes, with the fatality rate three times higher than the European average, according to United Nations figures.

'Burned'

Police earlier put the death toll at 15 and said at least 30 people were injured as locals gathered at the scene.

"There were lots of people that got burned," said Prince B. Mulbah, deputy inspector general for the Liberia National Police.

Another police officer, Malvin Sackor, said that after the crash, some locals had begun to take the leaking gas when the tanker exploded, killing some and wounding others.

He said that the police were still gathering the total number of injured and killed.

An eyewitness from Totota, Aaron Massaquoi, told AFP that "people climbed all on top of the truck taking the gas, while some of them had irons hitting the tanker for it to burst for them to get gas."

"People were all around the truck and the driver of the truck told them that the gas that was spilling they could take that," Massaquoi said.

"He told them not to climb on top of the tanker and that they should stop hitting the tanker.... but some people were even using screwdrivers to put holes on the tank."